New Year Food Resolutions

Bit late to the party here but I thought I’d do a quick post about my new year food resolutions as towards the latter end of 2013 my diet (and therefore my health) went off the rails a bit. I’ve never really been one for making resolutions full stop but if they are out there, and written down maybe they have a greater chance of happening.

Have you made any food/health related resolutions for 2013? If so, I’d be interested to hear them.

Work out how to use the kitchenSounds simple but it isn’t. The hob seems to operate at 2 temperatures- cold and BLAZING HOT which makes cooking rather difficult. Unless you like it raw or burnt.

I’ve tried buying new heavy bottom pans etc but the “low” setting still alludes me. The way forward is 4 pans filled with cold water on the rings set at different temperatures (hopefully) and to see what boils first.

Less booze, less salt and less caffeine.All have crept more and more into my everyday life and aren’t doing me any favours. I live for caffeine but it leaves me feeling wrecked within a few hours and the dreaded headaches are kicking in if I go without. Might be time for a bit more decaf. I’m also a salt addict to the point where it’s added to everything and if other people cook it tastes weird without it. Basically, some unhealthy habits need to be kicked.

Meal PlanWork out what’s in the cupboards, what I can cook from it and what I need to buy on a week by week basis. At the moment I’m buying way too much stuff I’m not using (I’ve had some orzo in the cupboard for a year now, unopened) and being a bit more sensible with my food and money is generally a good idea.

Cook something from every cook book I own…including the weird ones from the 70’s that feature such horrors as Banana and Parsnip Curry

Bake moreCooking is intuition. Baking is science. I don’t like baking as it can’t always be saved through substitutions and quite often goes horrendously wrong.

Eat healthier in generalWhat you put in is what you get out and all that. Less processed meals/takeaways, which is what my diet has become, and more fruit and vegetables.

Self indulgent waffly post I know, but just wanted to get them out there…

Ditto the resolution about the strange world of 70’s veggie cookbooks. I love my collection of aged crumpled paperbacks too, despite the horrors – I swear my old Cranks hardback is covered in some kind of beige itchy cheesecloth. Browsing them makes me all nostalgic, in fact I feel like knotting up a macrame owl right now..

It’ll be interesting to get to the end of the year and look back on this post and see how well you’ve done! I’ve been getting cook books out of the library and making the effort to try out new recipes. Now that I have the time, I’ve also been learning how to bake, which is good as a veggie because I don’t have to think about substituting ingredients etc and can try pretty much every recipe.

I have to say, I only drink decaf coffee and I don’t notice the difference any more. It’s strange how I still really feel I need my coffee first thing in the morning though – even though I know it doesn’t really do anything. I don’t use salt in anything either, possibly to the detriment of some meals but I don’t really notice. Chucking in lots of fresh herbs instead does the trick.